Sydney, Jul 18 (IANS): Australia leg-spinner Adam Zampa on Monday felt that the best thing about playing competitive cricket is that one gets better with age as one's career progresses. Zampa, who missed Australia's recent tour of Sri Lanka as he was on paternity leave, has been included in the squad for three-match ODIs against Zimbabwe and New Zealand in August and September respectively.
"I think I've generally improved each year. So until my body starts letting me down, which it isn't at the moment, I think it's all about information that you have in your head, and experience, and I always feel like the less you let things get to you -- or the less nervous you are, and the more experience you have -- the more likely you are to succeed "
"You literally can't buy that, you have to learn on the go and I think that's the best thing about playing cricket and getting older is that you feel like you do get better with age," Zampa was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au after the announcement of ODI squads.
With Zampa all set to return to international cricket action as Australia play ODIs at home for the first time since December 2020, it means that the leg-spinner confirmed he will cut short his stay with Welsh Fire in the later stages of The Hundred competition in England.
"I think the way it'll go with The Hundred is I'll play part of the tournament. In an ideal world the schedule lines up and you don't have to play half (a tournament), but this Zimbabwe tour of the Top End has been years in the making, so I'll be on deck for that.
"I love playing for Australia. The tour to Sri Lanka is the only one I've ever pulled out of, and I don't have any plans on pulling out of any more tours, other than for life-changing events."
With Australia set to host Men's T20 World Cup at home in October-November, Zampa is eager to hit the ground running for the hosts after winning the silverware last year in the UAE, especially with the knowledge of conditions of various venues through the Big Bash League (BBL).
"In Australia I tend to bowl a little bit more over the top of the ball, to try and get that bounce, because guys are always trying to hit the sightscreen, so anytime I can hit the top of the bat definitely helps. In Dubai in the last World Cup, I tried to almost take bounce and side-spin out of the game and just go underneath the bat.
"So in Australia, you almost want the ball to bounce over the stumps, and then other places, the more you can hit the stumps, the better. Cricket's changed a lot in the last few years but we definitely exploited that (home ground advantage) in the 2015 World Cup and I think it's going to be the same here.
"When you're familiar with grounds, and you aren't overawed by the experience of the crowd, the size of the grounds, the wickets... it does make it easier. I'm really confident with our squad. I always tend to think experience wins you those tournaments, and we have that in spades."